W&L Transnational Law Institute Presents Lecture on Africa and International War Crimes Tribunals

By Peter JettonFebruary 21, 2013

The Washington and Lee Transnational Law Institute will present a public lecture by Dr. Kamari Maxine Clarke of Yale University on Wednesday, Feb. 27 at 11:00 am in the Millhiser Moot Court Room, Sydney Lewis Hall.

Dr. Clarke is Professor of Anthropology and International and Area Studies at Yale University, where she is also Senior Research Scientist at the Yale Law School and Chair of the Council on African Studies. Her work examines questions of religious nationalism, legal institutions, international law, and the interface between culture and power, specifically in Africa. She addressed these themes in a recent New York Times op/ed titled “Treat Greed in Africa as a War Crime.”

Dr. Clarke’s talk is titled “The Tribunalization of African Violence and Making Sense of Africa’s Push-Back.” In her remarks, Dr. Clarke will address the potential and limits of the International Criminal Court’s involvement in Africa. To date, all of the International Criminal Court’s situations involve African countries – Libya, Kenya. the DRC, Darfur (Sudan), Uganda, Central African Republic, Cote d’Ivoire and, now, Mali. This localization persists despite the global realities of mass atrocity.

Dr. Clarke’s articles and books have focused on religious and legal movements and the related production of knowledge and power. These works include Mapping Yoruba Networks: Power and Agency in the Making of Transnational Communities (Duke University Press) and Fictions of Justice: The International Criminal Court and the Challenge of Legal Pluralism in Sub-Saharan Africa (Cambridge University Press).

This event is free and open to the public.

The Transnational Law Institute, directed by Professor Mark Drumbl, was established in 2006 to support and coordinate teaching innovations, externships, internships, a speaker series and visiting faculty to help prepare students for the increasing globalization of legal practice.